


Howl

by madamoiselle_sica



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Bisexual Qrow Branwen, Healing, M/M, Omega Verse, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Pack Dynamics, Protective Qrow Branwen, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, suppressants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamoiselle_sica/pseuds/madamoiselle_sica
Summary: CONTINUATION of the storyHowl by GoringWritinghttps://archiveofourown.org/works/22752280/chapters/54365503with permissionPlease read this as a precursor. First chapter has some review.While on the run from Salem's lot team RWBYJNORQ seek help from the pack leader of Atlas. His price? An omega to marry one Alpha to bind loyalties to the territory. Will Qrow end up running from the deal he made or will he find a mate in all of this?
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 41
Kudos: 62





	1. The Last Few Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoringWriting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoringWriting/gifts).



> As noted in the summary this is a continuation of the story Howl by GoringWriting with permission. https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752280/chapters/54365503
> 
> With that in mind, I kept to the spirit of GoringWriting’s story and previous decisions such as the secondary genders of all of the characters, the use of semblances, the integration of Qrow to wear an Ace Op uniform and where he was going to stay, the intention of adding a fourth form to Harbinger and the way that the previous mentioning of details with Cordovin, Salam and Tai. 
> 
> Ruby Omega  
> Yang Alpha  
> Jaune Beta  
> Weiss Beta  
> Blake Beta  
> Nora Alpha  
> Ren Beta  
> Oscar Omega  
> Elm Alpha  
> Vine Beta  
> Marrow Alpha  
> Harriet Beta  
> Clover Alpha  
> James Alpha

After Qrow fell asleep during the training session, he felt better but didn’t really know if it was a good idea to feel so comfortable with the Atlas pack. The kids seemed happy to be able go out on actual patrols but Qrow was still worried about them. Clover had not said a word about him sleeping during the training session, but Qrow worried that it would be held over him and maybe even used against him to force him to integrate him into their pack.

But now that he was free for the afternoon and feeling better, he decided that it was time to write a letter to Tai to let him know that the girls were okay without actually telling Tai where they were or what the exact details of this arrangement were, despite how well they were fairing even when considering the circumstances.

* * *

Clover was in his office that evening after training with the teams, working on scheduling the teams for the next week. He was having a bit of trouble figuring out the best team arrangements, when integrating the Ace Ops with the new pack. While he was trying to figure this out, his mind started to wonder a bit about what had occurred in just the past few days.

He was completely taken aback when Ironwood pulled that stunt about requiring an Omega from them to integrate them into the Atlas pack. He was still finding it hard to believe considering that the general had never done this before, having made other arrangements with traveling packs in the past. And then for Qrow to offer himself, clearly preventing one of the pups from having to be mated so young, even if it was after they became acclimated adults. It was very courageous, considering Qrow was currently an unmated older Omega and clearly by choice. It was even heroic in some ways and a bit self-sacrificing. Clover suspected that Qrow had never been mated but he was not certain. But then for Clover’s name to be pulled from the unmated Alphas to be paired with Qrow. The coincidences were too great for his semblance not to be involved, even though they had just both walked into the room. 

Clover respected Qrow enough, as he hid from the Atlas pack hoping that it would garner the pack a better chance at getting what they wanted. But then Clover decided to keep the deception to himself and his pack. He was keenly aware of the reputation that Atlas had regarding the treatment of Omegas. But luckily he hoped to help change this perception and garner some loyalty from this new pack and their adult Omega. Hopefully with a little charm, he could help Qrow and this new pack feel right at home. Clover would never admit that this approach had anything to do with the fact that he really enjoyed Qrow’s scent ever since their walk down the hallway to visit the infirmary.

* * *

Qrow returned to work with Pietro on his weapon and finalized its 4 th form, the tonfa. Qrow was happy that it had taken some time to work on. His aura seemed to need forever to replenish itself. But in his case it seemed like that was a good thing, since he really didn’t want to have to work too hard with his new pack, considering it was forced upon him. Clover seemed to be giving him his space too, despite being his delegated Alpha and future mate. 

While working on Harbinger, Qrow started to think about how Clover was rather different than what he expected from any Alpha, with the exception of Oz. But like himself, Clover clearly did not behave like his typical sub gender, and that was saying something for an Alpha from the Atlas pack. Clover continued to give Qrow his space with the pillows between them, until a separate twin bed was acquired and placed in Clover’s room a few days later. Qrow thanked him and was amazed at Clover’s true intention to get to know Qrow before anything happened between them. When Clover first spoke of this on their third day in Atlas, Qrow did not believe him. Then when the bed arrived the next day, he was actually starting to believe.

What Qrow didn’t expect was to miss the smell of the sheets and the pillows from Clover’s bed. He had woken up each day pressed up against the pillow border. He should have known that being near an unmated Alpha closer to his own age would trigger his sexual Omega tendencies. He was already trying to find a balance between being a non-traditional Omega huntsman and the traditional Omega parental figure for all of the kids, even if most of them were no longer kids. 

And after so long working with Oz and being around Tai and the girls, Qrow was more than happy to not have any pups of his own. And now here he was missing the smell of Clover, an Alpha he barely knew.  _ Stupid hormones. _ If he was being honest with himself, it felt like it was more than just hormones. He had been with other Alphas and Betas in his youth but just for fun not for the intention of mating. He had learned the hard way about the opinions of others, especially from his past sexual partners, regarding his freedom and as well as his own feelings regarding being an unmated Omega. If only he could find some of the suppressants that he used to take when he was younger. If things continued this way, he would be mated and catching despite being so late in his life. Something that he really had no intention of ever doing, especially considering the state of the world.

But despite his secondary gender’s influence on his senses, that didn’t mean that he was going to give in right away. If he could avoid it, he was going to delay this as long as he could. Having his own bed could actually make it easier to avoid being mated for quite a bit longer. Depending on when he next went into heat, which he hoped would be farther off because of his injuries, but no guarantees. That may be the only part of his bad luck that has worked to his advantage. 

Qrow was startled out of his thoughts when Pietro came back into the room with some insights regarding the mechanics and transitions, making them as smooth and quick as possible. Despite the complexities of Harbinger, Pietro seemed to find it easy to understand.

During the next few days, he got used to his new uniform, despite not really liking the Atlas colors. It was similar in design to his previous clothing but bright while with blue and red accents. Pietro gave him the opportunity to influence the design and add some personal touches to the uniform. But he was still stuck with some limitation, so he did his best to make it his own by leaving a few buttons undone on his collar, pressing the collar back against his pecs, making space for his necklace and rolling up his sleeves to his elbows, just like he did with any shirt he wore. He was permitted to have a cape in any color he choose, so that was at least one feature that didn’t change

He continued to recover and started training with the new form of his weapon, to work out any kinks. This turned out to be a really good thing, when one time during a simple training simulation, Harbinger fell apart into three pieces. Pietro figured out what was wrong and with some tinkering, the mishap would never happen again. Qrow didn’t like the idea of letting Peitro fix it but didn’t trust his semblance not to get the better of him. Better safe than sorry and considering the man was a genius didn’t hurt either.

The kids came around many times to tell him about their adventures in Atlas by defending the border, doing patrols and the like. For the most part they were faring well and even the rest of Clover’s pack mates seemed to have good things to say about the kids abilities in the field. Even Oscar was fairing well in his classes at the academy and accompanying the teams occasionally. He was really learning to project his aura on a regular basis now without thinking about it. Soon, Qrow thought, that boy’s semblance would surface and then Oscar would likely start to outperform some of the other kids.

Oscar also kept a close eye on Qrow and Clover. After Qrow heard what Oscar said to Clover about feeling like Qrow was his third parent, Qrow could not help but feel even more protective of the pup. Even if Oscar was also looking out for the kids to keep them out of trouble and verify that Qrow was doing better and recovering each day.

What still surprised Qrow and Oscar, was how much time Clover and even some of his pack, were spending so much time together. It was not a requirement that Clover’s pack befriend this new pack and yet they did. It occurred to Qrow that with Clover as Alpha, he could have required them to do it, but having spent a week with Qrow, Clover didn’t seem like that kind of leader. Perhaps he made the suggestion, or recommendation but probably not an order, considering how loyal Clover’s team seemed to be to him. 

After being in Atlas for a week, the doctor gave Qrow medical clearance for field work. Qrow was grateful but a little leary of what he would be assigned to do. He was not afraid of field work but more what would happen when paired with Clover more regularly, as he expected would happen when he was cleared. Being around an Alpha that was not a pup was going to be a challenge. If only the world had not gone to hell and back, this would not even be a concern and yet here he was. Well there was only one thing for it. Get back into training and ignore his nerves. That always worked before.


	2. Road to Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Being a mom for two kids under 6 tends to put a damper of writing and editing time when all I hear is "Mommy please play with me." And since school is going to be starting soon for them and me, since I teach, I felt it was important to spend as much time with them as I could after pushing them off when I was finishing my post-masters this summer.
> 
> I am planning on putting myself on a schedule but that will likely occur after I go back to school since I do not know what my routine will look like or how much extra work I will need to take home. Cross my fingers it is less than what it has been in the past. 
> 
> Anyways.  
> Hope you like the chapter.

Clover caught up with Qrow in the training room, set to one of the more challenging settings, as he began to implement his fourth form into his fighting style. Clover had just gotten word that Qrow had been cleared by the medical for field work. And Clover was a little eager to see what he could do on the field, after hearing what they did to Cordovin.

He watched Qrow skillfully and smoothly defeat all of the simulated bots and attacks with ease. As the simulation came to an end, Clover applauded him.

“Nicely done. Seems like you are starting to integrate your new form into your fighting style well.”

Qrow spun around and was surprised that he didn’t smell him when he came into the room, but maybe that was a good thing. Then he looked back to Harbinger. “Still not as smooth as I usually am. It is going to take some getting used to this transform but it will come in handy nonetheless.” He glanced up as Clover walked farther into the training room so that they didn’t have to shout. “I assume you got my medical release?”

“That I did. I will be scheduling you for similar work as the kids, at least until you become a little more familiar with the terrain. That and you can see for yourself what they have doing and how they are progressing.”

“That..would be nice. Thanks!” He stopped himself from being too thankful, concerned that it would be misinterpreted. 

Then there was an awkward silence. Clover just stood there staring at him, head cocked just little to the left, like a love sick pup. Qrow could not and would not let this Alpha get the better of him. So he decided to move the conversation along. “So when do I report in the morning?”

Clover didn’t answer right away, just cocked his head to the right a little, somewhat looking like he was considering Qrow’s words or maybe just enjoying Qrow’s scent. “0700 hours.” Clover paused, opened his mouth, closed it and then started again repeating what his conversation from earlier that week. “I really did mean what I said before. I will do everything I can to make sure that this only happens when you are ready.”

“Really? Defy the general? Not you, Soldier Boy.” Qrow was having none of this. No Alpha before had even considered him and his feelings in this way. They all just let themselves go to their pure animal instincts. It was starting to piss him off. “You telling me that if I go in heat or you have a rut that you’re just going to ignore it? Fat chance.”

Clover took a few steps to get closer to Qrow and then grabbed his arm. “Yes! In fact, I will get you and me suppressants if need be!” Clover was not sure what triggered him to be so aggressive.

Qrow dropped his jaw and eyes went wide at his words. Clover was something else. He was an Alpha but with more respect for the humanity in everyone than even some Omega’s saw in themselves. More than even Qrow had for himself at times, considering the drinking he used to do after the fall of Beacon.

Qrow looked away for a moment and Clover let go of Qrow’s arm and took a step back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so…aggressive. It comes with the Alpha brain.” It was the only explanation that he could think of for himself.

Qrow was still in shock from both the offer and the apology.  _ This guy, this Alpha cannot be for real. Could he? _ Qrow thought about what had happened so far. Kids are happy, they have support and are safe. Clover and his pack are integrating with the kids and him. Qrow has his own bed, albeit in Clover’s room but still. Clover made him breakfast his first morning and with no obligation or anything expected in return. There was a chance that Clover was in fact the real deal and Qrow decided to test it.

“Prove it. Get us the suppressants.” He paused for a moment and then decided to tell him what he had not even let himself think about. “With my body healed and considering the stress I have been under since the Fall of Beacon, I have not had regular heat cycles. I don’t know when the next one will happen. Could be tomorrow or months from now? But I would prefer not to risk it.”

Qrow walked by Clover without another word. He headed to the mess hall to join the kids for dinner, as they would be back from their assignments for the day. He could tell them the good news that he had been cleared and that he would be joining them on missions the next day.

* * *

_What have I gotten myself into?_ Clover could not believe it. Yes he was serious about not getting into a mating relationship with Qrow until they had gotten to know each other better. He was an enigma as an Alpha because he liked romance and he would have preferred to pick his own mate, which he had tried to do many times before without success. He had started relationships with all types, other Alphas, Betas and Omegas. But most of the Alphas were way too aggressive, even for him and the Omegas were way too eager to please or overly sexualized, but that was in part due to their secondary gender. He had been most successful with Betas, but some of them were even turned off by his more caring and gentle nature. It just never worked out. Which is how he found himself in this situation; an older unmated male Alpha. And despite his loyalties to Ironwood, he really hated that Ironwood had made this decision without considering other options. But he was starting to learn to live with it, as he thanked his luck that he was selected over some of the other Alphas who would have probably forced themselves onto Qrow. Just the thought made him growl.

But now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to figure out how to get the suppressants that he offered to Qrow and not get in trouble with Ironwood. He really did want Qrow to feel comfortable and he didn’t want him to feel forced, which is what Clover also felt like was happening to himself. Mind you, he really liked Qrow, his smell and his fighting style was amazing and he was gorgeous to look at but that was not enough for Clover. Mating should be more than just animal instinct. And Qrow was not wrong. It would be extremely difficult for either of them to ignore the other if Qrow went into heat or he had a rut. Clover had gone through ruts a number times before and his pack hated it. But they understood him better than most. 

Now the suppressants would be easy to get normally but since Ironwood just assigned Qrow to him, it would look highly suspicious if he asked for them now. None of his other teammates could ask for them without causing suspicion. But then he thought of the kids on Qrow’s team and an idea occurred to him. He pulled out his scroll and called the medic to schedule a meeting for the next day. This was going to work out just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit shorter than I had intended but it was a nice break before the next section, so it works.
> 
> A bit more dialogue and that made me much happier, since I tend to prefer it. Still feels like I am writing a summary without the dialogue. 
> 
> We will see if my future chapters will continue with the ping pong POV, which is fun for me. 
> 
> 🍀


	3. Weapons and Semblances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clover walks into the room. “I see you found my gift?
> 
> Qrow looked up at him with new found appreciation. “Uh...Yeah. Thanks for the book.”
> 
> Clover scoffed but smiles nonetheless. Then he walks over to his own bed and pulls out a book from his side table drawer, for which he quickly shows Qrow a similar hidden compartment and then puts it back. Qrow never once stopped watching Clover. This was just too unreal. 
> 
> Why was he doing this? What could he possibly gain from choosing not to mate with Qrow? How did he get his hands on suppressants?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooooo sorry for neglecting this for so long (3 weeks - yeeesh). 
> 
> I am a high school math teacher and I have been doing lots of PD for the school year, which was postponed (and before I go off on a rant or worse a tirade), lets simply leave it as challenging (to say the least) with everything that I have to do for remote learning. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it as we being to delve a bit more into the plot.
> 
> With no further adieu...

The next morning briefing went well and Qrow was assigned to take out a small grim nest with Clover, Jaune, Nora and Ren. Qrow is looking forward to some fresh air, even if it was to fight grim despite how cold it was.

After they find the nest and begin to fight and kill off some grim, Qrow is watching Clover. And it doesn’t get past Qrow, that Clover is also watching him, as they fight. Qrow knows that it is mostly out of curiosity to see how well your partner fights, as well as learning how to fight together over time. Qrow can tell that Clover respects his fighting ability. 

But Qrow isn’t so sure about Clover right away. It seems that Clover is an excellent tactician, and he fills the support roll very well during their fight with the grimm. 

_But what is up with that fishing pole?_

Qrow goes to chide Clover about his weapon but right at that moment, Clover jumps into the fight to take on a Sabyr. He counters with a fancy spin of his weapon to block the initial attack and then counters by pulling out the hook to wrap around the Sabyr’s neck, and then hooking it on the line. Clover then pulls tight and with little effort, he throws the Sabyr over his head and slams it down on the ground. Followed by stabbing it with the spear on the other end of the Kingfisher, causing the grimm to disintegrate right in front of Clover.

Qrow doesn’t realize that he is staring until Clover winks at him. Qrow begins to feel embarrassed for being caught and a little shocked at Clover's reaction, but quickly clears his throat and shakes his head and returns to viciously going after grimm. 

After seeing how well Clover uses Kingfisher, especially when he took on grimm single handedly, Qrow lets all of his planned teasing about the fishing pole go by the wayside, at least for now. Having just started working with the Atlas pack and Clover, he is not sure how well Clover would take to teasing in front of the young pack, nonetheless by an Omega. And he didn’t want to jeopardize the group's good relations with the Atlas pack at large, or with Clover at the moment, with how considerate he was being. But maybe later he might still bring it up, because there has to be a story of some other reason for it. 

_That is such a pansy ass weapon._

* * *

These missions to take out some small grimm nest happen for the next few days. Despite having not been particularly hard assignments, after two days of this and the trips to and from the tundra, it begins to take a toll and Qrow is exhausted by the time they return. Qrow plans to head straight to bed but Ruby and the others drag him to the mess hall for dinner, so that they can eat and regale them with the tales of their adventures for the day. Clover heads off to take care of some reports, so Qrow assumes, since he declined to join them when Ruby asked. 

He is a little surprised that Clover didn’t decide for Qrow what to do or insist that they stay together. Clover had given him lots of space but it seemed odd that this Alpha was just letting him be autonomous. As Qrow watched Clover walk down the hall away from the rest of the rookies, he could help but wonder why Clover seemed so...different. 

_What is Clover up to? What is his game?_

There had to be more to Clover than the nice guy face he was putting on. But then again, Clover was a 36 year old single Alpha, so there had to be more to that story, considering that Qrow had his own as an unmated 41 year old Omega. But Qrow planned to find out Clover’s story so that he would not be caught off guard. 

Qrow finished up dinner with the youngsters and after agreeing to meet them for breakfast after he passed on going back to their lounge to play games, Qrow headed back to his shared bedroom. Qrow immediately falls backwards onto the bed without looking, giving in to the exhaustion from the day. Then he felt an odd shape poking his back. He reaches back and finds a book. He looks at the cover and doesn’t recognize it or the author. The book is fairly thick but it is still a small hardcover book. Qrow opens it and flips through the first dozen or so pages. But as he looks a little closer, he hears a very slight rattling sound. If he hadn’t been flipping through it, he probably would have missed it. He flips though it more and finds a hidden compartment in the book. It is well hidden too, since it took him longer to find it than he had expected. He pulls out a small rectangular box, not much bigger than the size of his thumb nail. He puts the book down and sits up on the bed. He opens the box to find a piece of cotton, which he removes. Underneath are two dozen little grey pills inside. Qrow gasped immediately as he recognized them as Omega hormone suppressants. 

Qrow never thought that Clover had been serious until that moment he offered to get him suppressants, but there was no way for Clover to do that without getting caught having just been paired with Qrow. This straight and narrow, by the book Alpha would not defy a direct order. Qrow could not imagine it. But here he was two days later and low and behold, this special book with a hidden compartment on his bed held the one thing that he wanted most, besides keeping his pack safe.

Clover walks into the room. “I see you found my gift?

Qrow looked up at him with new found appreciation. “Uh...Yeah. Thanks for the book.”

Clover scoffed but smiles nonetheless. Then he walks over to his own bed and pulls out a book from his side table drawer, for which he quickly shows Qrow a similar hidden compartment and then puts it back. Qrow never once stopped watching Clover. This was just too unreal. 

_Why was he doing this? What could he possibly gain from choosing not to mate with Qrow? How did he get his hands on suppressants?_

Qrow wanted to know but was concerned with what the answer might be. Regardless, Qrow stands up and grabs a glass of water and takes his first pill without a second thought. 

* * *

The next few days were more of the same, being assigned to patrol, taking out grim nests or responding to calls in Mantle if there were grimm sightings. Clover had placed Qrow with multiple different groups between his pack and the Ace Ops, so that Qrow could see for himself just how much they were doing and how well they worked together.

But for this particular assignment, Clover had met with Ruby, Jaune and Qrow, as they were going to be taking on a bigger challenge. They all had to work as a large group and split into three teams to go after an older Grim giest in a dust mine. It was not going to be an easy job but after seeing what the kids could do and with the help of Clover’s pack and Qrow, there was little that could go wrong. Despite previous field assignments where Qrow was teamed up with the kids and some of Clover’s pack, today it was just Clover and Qrow. Now Qrow felt that Clover was up to something.

Clover checked in with the other teams and a reminder to stay in touch and focus on the goal, reminding them that there is a great deal of dust in the mine and that one wrong move could be disastrous. Then Qrow starts to dig for more information.

“I’m still not really used to working with others in the field.”

“Really? You do pretty well with the rest of your pack.”

“They're still just pups to me. I mean working with someone my own age, like you… and your pack.”

“Didn’t you used to work with your own pack back at Beacon?”

“Not for a long time. Decades it would seem. I just found that it works out better when I work alone.”

“So that explains why you haven’t mated with anyone your whole life.”

Qrow starts to complain about Clover’s comment but as his luck would have it, he slips on the ice and nearly face plants when Clover catches him, pulls him back up and pats him on the shoulder. Clover is once again distracted by checking in with the other groups who had come across a caved in section of their path into the mine.

Clover had the perfect opportunity to mark him or even take a sniff of him and Clover ignores the opportunity. They just started taking suppresnets, they can’t have kicked in that quick. Qrow ignores his thoughts and goes back to worrying about his semblance. After everything that had happened over the last two weeks, he has not had the opportunity to talk to Clover about it and is rather concerned that if they are going to be partnered up more often that he needs to give the guy a heads up. Before he gets the chance, the Grimm geist appears before them in the mine. Qrow pulls out Harbinger and takes a few shots at the grim, which seem to have no effect, as Clover announces the appearance to the other teams. 

“This is Alpha! We've engaged the target! All squads head toward our position!”

Then Clover makes an attempt to catch the grim with Kingfisher, which fails and it surprises him. As the geist starts imbedding ice and rock into its body, Clover rushes in to try and stop the geist from gathering any more debri to add to its body. 

Then Qrow sees the metal support beam start to pull out of the wall, ao he calls out towards Clover “Wait! Stop!”

Clover looks up fast enough to see a wall beam start to come out of the wall and fall down towards where he had planned to move. Qrow sees a cloud of earth after the beam falls, making a cloud of dirt, causing Clover to cough a bit but nothing major. Qrow jogs up next to him.

“Thanks for the call out. That could have been bad.”

It’s now or never, considering it took this long before he actually put someone in danger. “I wouldn’t thank me.” He sighs. “My semblance is misfortune. And I can’t always control it.”

“Well, hey, don’t beat yourself up about it.” Clover checks his scroll for the map of the mine that they have and decides to try and pull more at the wall that came loose to see if he can find another path. He uses Kingfisher to pull at a beam on the wall and it crumbles easily into the hole that the geist fell into and opens up a new path that they can take. Then Clover turns to Qrow. “My semblance is good fortune. Lucky you, huh?” Then Clover winks at him, as the luck joke rolls off his tongue.

Qrow drops his jaw and nearly loses all focus of what is going on. 

_Did he just tell me that there was someone else in the world that has a luck based semblance? Is it really possible that Clover is my near perfect opposite? Good vs Bad luck? Alpha vs Omega?_

As he is debating internally, he realizes that he is staring as Clover turns to head towards the hole in the wall and informs the rest of the teams that they lost the geist and it moved toward the other teams. Qrow is now turning his head to the right as he considers what the implications mean.

_How can this be good? What are the fates trying to do to me?_

This is the guy that his pack needed, not Qrow. He had messed up so much and now this guy is part of their larger pack. Then he turns his head to the left and wonders why this is happening to me. 

_Get it together! I still have a job to do._

He catches up to Clover and follows just behind him as he considers what it means to find someone with his opposite semblance but at the same time, try and stay focused on his environment and get the job done. They soon find an opening in the cave and just before he sees Clover take the corner, he hears Marrow say “Crap.” As Qrow turns the corner, he sees a large piece of dust just a few feet up, flying towards Clover. 

Clover catches it easily. “What would you do without me?” He tosses the dust back at Qrow without a second thought and then salutes at Qrow and falls backward off the ledge.

_Show off._

Qrow is again dumbfounded as watches the ace ops pack work together pretty seamlessly. Qrow would have participated but felt a little out of sorts from Clover’s announcement and it seems as though the team has it pretty well handled. If they were really struggling or there were more grim involved, Qrow would have acted immediately. But at the moment he doesn’t want his semblance or his lack of experience with them as a team to interfere or cause a problem. He subconsciously is focused on Clover during the whole fight. And then seeing Clover begin to panic when the last dust crystal is hurtling through the air, with no one nearby to catch it, not even himself. Clover calls for Harriet, their resident speedster, which he didn’t expect to see from the Alpha, as she is a Beta. But then Clover has been nothing but surprising compared to nearly every Alpha Qrow had ever come in contact with. But when he saw Ruby rush in and catch the dust before Harriet was able to get there, he could not have been prouder. He jumps down next to Clover. “So that was a lucky catch too?”

“No. I chalk that one up to talent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I do have the long weekend, and my parents are taking my kids for part of it, I will have more time to write. All this to say I will try to have another chapter out in less than a week. I make no promises since lots of things could interfere.
> 
> Thank you to BrianneABanana for beta reading for me.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> 🍀


	4. Learning More and the Ultimatum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Unfortunately, Atlas’s seems to be better known for what it does poorly than for anything else.”
> 
> “Then why don’t you work to change it?”
> 
> “I am. Who do you think pushed to let Omegas teach at the academy in the first place?”
> 
> “You pushed for that?”
> 
> “Right out of the academy, I joined the military pack, as is fairly common here. I had all these crazy ideas that I was going to change things from the inside...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I am back with an update only a week after the last one. YAAAAY!
> 
> However, I might be taking a short break from this as I work on my projects for Fair Game Weekend Oct 2-4.  
> If you would like to learn more and possible participate, find me on Tumblr at madamoisellesica (no underscore) or follow this link https://madamoisellesica.tumblr.com/post/628440838296436736 for more information.
> 
> Enjoy!

A few weeks later, Clover finds himself in the back of a transport vehicle with Qrow, while playing cards. Clover places several cards down on the supply crate that they are using as a table.

“I win again. Maybe we should call it quits?” Clover can tell that Qrow hates this game, but suspects that they keep playing because it is something to do to pass the time on these long trips.

“Shut up and deal.”

Clover laughs, then gathers up the cards and shuffles them, deciding that a change of topic is in order to help cheer him up. “Your niece sure is one of a kind, huh?”

“They all are. Been through a lot together.”

“It’s a good thing they had someone to look up to and get them through it. Not everyone is so lucky,” as Clover begins dealing the cards.

Clover speaks from experience, having lost his parents when he was 10 years old and living with his grandmother for a few years and later with his aunt and uncle, when his grandmother got too weak to care for him. None of which were hunters and none of them had any connection to the military. So the idea of having a relative that you could look up to and that they could help you with your ambitions and possibly even training, seemed like a boon that he never had the privilege of experiencing.

“I don’t know about all that. Thanks, by the way. For looking out for ‘em. You and your team.”

Clover wondered why Qrow was thanking him, considering how little the Ace Ops had done in the mere weeks that they had been in the Atlas. “What good is protecting the kingdom and the pack without another generation waiting in the wings? Hopefully they’ll make the kingdom better for the future than we did for them.” 

As Qrow raised his hand like he was sharing a toast. “Once upon a time, I’d have drank to that.” 

Clover made a mental note to find out more about why drinking was an issue later. For now, he needed the man to see his own worth. “You shouldn’t do that, you know.”

“Don’t worry, I-I gave that up.”

Clover filled that comment, right beside the other to bring up at another time. For now he was more concerned that Qrow misunderstood the comment and Clover was going to get him to understand that he is valued by many, especially the rookies. “I meant, deflect a compliment. Those kids wouldn’t be where they are without you. You’ve had more of an effect on them than you realize.” 

Qrow smiles and rubs the back of his head. Clover is pleased with himself that Qrow seems to have started to accept the praise that he clearly needs and deserves. There must be more to why he doesn’t take it well, either related to his semblance or his dynamic. Or maybe there is something more regarding him giving up drinking. That was something new that had not come up previously. Clover considered bringing it up now but was quickly interrupted.

“Uh, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby called from the front seat.

Qrow and Clover got up and headed to the front of the truck to see why she called for him. 

“What’s going on? Grimm?” Qrow responds and Clover notices how concerned he looks.

Clover looks out the front windshield and sees the last person he wanted to see on the tundra. “No. Worse. You two with me. Penny, stay put and keep an eye on our six. We may need an element of surprise.”

“Affirmative. I will plan for six possible outcomes.” Clover just looks at Penny, who smiles confidently, as he realized a little too late that she struggles with understanding metaphorical and symbolic language. Well that is a concern for another time.

The three of them climb out the back of the truck. Clover notices the concerned look on Qrow’s face. “What is it?”

“I kept wondering when my semblance would decide to rear its ugly head again. It’s been quiet for a little too long.” Clover had recalled previous conversations about Qrow’s semblance and how he would take the blame for many of the minor things that happened during their previous missions. Even the Ops seemed surprised when he apologized to them for things that were, in most cases, outside of his or his semblance’s control.

Clover places his hand on Qrow’s shoulder, trying to be reassuring. “I doubt this has anything to do with this. Knowing Robyn, she has her own agenda.” Qrow smiles slightly for a brief moment. “Just let me handle it.” Yet another conversation that they need to have added to the list on his scroll, which was getting longer and longer by the day. Before long, Clover was going to have to play a subtle version of 20 questions if this continued.

They continue to walk around to the front of the truck, where Robyn Hill and Fiona Thyme are standing in the middle of the road. Behind them was a locked sheet metal barricade built in front of a small canyon. 

Clover knows that he needs to get her to stand down without a conflict. Her running in the election actually helps him since she would be less inclined to do anything that would jeopardize her chances of winning. “Robyn! Well, if it isn’t Mantle’s home town hero. Is there a reason you’re blocking an official transport?”

“Clover, I’m so glad you’re here. Maybe you can help me understand why this truck that’s supposed to be taking construction materials to fix Mantle’s outer wall, is on its way to the middle of nowhere? Are you lost?”

Clover laughs. “It’s pretty easy to get turned around out here in the tundra, everything looks the same. Thanks for checking up on us though. We’ll be on our way now.” Clover turns and begins to walk away. Maybe his luck will be with him and she can let this go.

Robyn sighs and looks down for a moment and then back up. “I was hoping you’d play it straight with me. What’s Ironwood doing at the old mine?” So much for his good luck.

Clover stops and turns to face Robyn again. “Oh, that. Just collecting a few more supplies and dust that was in the mine. These preparations are needed to help the kingdom and Mantle.”

“Only automated drones and a few select Atlas scientists are allowed out here. Why is a truck already full of supplies headed to a mine, getting invaluable resources we need in Mantle to protect against Grimm? Seems like there is more going on.”

Clover is impressed that she has been paying so close attention to this area. “You’ve been scoping it out.” He would have to do more preparations to scout the area for her and the Happy Huntresses in the future to avoid any future confrontations.

“We can’t fix the wall without the supplies on these trucks. I think Mantle deserves to know what they’re being used for. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Just tell me.”

She is not wrong about the wall, but Clover has no interest in telling her what they are doing. Hell the rookies and Qrow don’t even know the whole story and the Ace Ops are aware of some of the details but not the whole plan. He notices that Robyn walks forward and extends her hand with a smile, no doubt planning to use her semblance.

“I’m going to have to pass on that.”

She frowns, and then smiles again as she turns toward Ruby and Qrow. “How ‘bout you, pipsqueak? Five o’ clock shadow? Either of you want to tell me why Mantle’s being put at risk for Ironwood’s pet project?”

“We’re trying to help. We…”

Clover intervenes, as he knows that she can’t really answer. “That’s enough Robyn. As a potential Councilwoman, you should probably focus on the election instead of harassing Huntsmen. Now, it’s time to let us pass.”

“I think you’ve misjudged the situation. One way or another, these supplies are going to get where they’re supposed to go…” And then she adds in her Alpha voice “Mantle.” Clover is actually a little concerned that Robyn would actually fight him for the resources, considering it would place her eligibility in jeopardy. But he has so rarely heard her Alpha voice that he realizes just how serious this is for her.

Clover decides to try and offer an alternative, to see if she will let this go before it escalates any further. He wants to flick his pendent but knows that it will be a dead give away that he is using his semblance. And she has told him before how much it pisses her off to see him use it against other huntsmen. “Then I suggest you do that through the proper legal channels as a Councilwoman. If you get elected.” Clover then he does his best to channel his luck without his pin.

Robyn smirks. “Now where’s the fun in that?”

_So much for that._ Clover tenses his hand and he hears Ruby and Qrow shift their footing, likely preparing for a fight, when suddenly, he hears Penny fly out from behind him, as he chances a quick glance over his shoulder, as she lands on top of the truck, her swords levitating around her.

“Robyn Hill. I would like to politely ask that you call off the Huntresses approaching the rear of the truck,” Penny announces.

Clover looks and sees nothing behind the truck and glances over at Qrow and Ruby who also seem dumbfounded, while looking behind the truck. And then he remembers. Robyn was friends with a huntress who could use their semblance to make themselves invisible.

Robyn laughs. “Alright. Joanna, May!” And right after she calls their names, Clover watches as two people fade into view behind the truck. He looks back at Robyn, as she looks up at Penny. “The Protector of Mantle, huh? Wonder just how important this truck is considering you brought her along.”

“Let us through, please.” Penny sounds very sturn.

Clover remains steadfast, with his hand on Kingfisher, prepared to fight if Robyn pushes the issue. He can tell that Qrow and Ruby are ready too. Robyn sighs and gestures to Fiona, who opens the gate on the barricade. Clover relaxes and nods at Robyn and then turns to head back towards the truck. Penny jumps down and Clover stops and looks back. 

“Robyn. Good luck at the election.” All four of them hop back in the truck so that they can continue on their way.

“That was a close one.” Clover looks back at Qrow, a little surprised by his comment.

“You’re telling me.” Clover sighs, relieved that it was nothing more than a heated conversation but he will have to include this detail in his report. And who knows what kind of problems this will add for them. Luckily the rest of their trip was quiet and uneventful. 

* * *

The next evening, after working a shift patrolling Mantel’s wall together, Clover and Qrow headed back to the shared Ace Ops lounge. They had returned from assignment before the rest of the ops, who were working other missions with the rookies. They both decided to enjoy some quiet relaxation without disruption after getting changed into their civilian clothing. Sometime later, Qrow decided to prod Clover about what happened in the tundra. “So what ‘s Robyn’ story?”

“Besides her running for the open council seat.” Clover takes a breath and sighs, as Qrow nods. “We were in the academy together.”

“Really? Did you know her well?”

“You could say that. We were on the same team.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah. Half of my team joined the military pack. Half decided to go work as hunters, primarily in Mantle.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“You're not wrong but I don’t really want to get into it right now.”

“Sorry didn’t mean to dredge up bad memories.”

“No, it's not like that. I am just tired of everyone talking about it like I have some sort of sway over her when in reality, it was more of the other way around.”

“I can understand that. It has happened to me with former students.”

“You used to teach?” Clover was shocked. He didn’t think that Qrow was the type to hold down a job like that. Too many rules and considering his dynamic, limited options.

“Yeah at Signal Academy in Vale. I was part of the Vale pack back then. It’s a feeder school for Beacon Academy.”

“When was that?”

“I taught for a few years, shortly after Summer disappeared, when the girls were young.”

“Let me guess. Someone from your team, right?”

“Yes. She’s Ruby’s mom, actually. I took the teaching job while I was helping Tai with girls when Yang was six and Ruby was four. Some of my better memories actually.” _What the hell? Why am I telling him about this? I was supposed to find out more about him. Oh well._

“You must have been a good teacher, if those kids are any indication.”

“I’m a great teacher. But I. HATE. Paperwork.”

Clover chuckles. “I can imagine considering your disdain for reports here. What did you teach?”

“Weapon creation and combat training.”

“Wow! That is great. I’m glad you got the opportunity to do that in Vale.”

“Why do you say that?”

Clover sighs. “Atlas, as you most likely know, has a pretty bad reputation with how it has treated Omegas in the past and still does now, in more ways than I like to think about. It has only been ten years that Omegas have been allowed to teach at Atlas Academy or the combat school.”

“Wait. I think I heard about this.”

Clover smiled. “Probably. Atlas made a major announcement when it happened.” He sighed. “But those positions are unfortunately limited to less….combative subjects. The subjects you taught have been taught at the academy and the combat school strictly by alphas for the last 20 years or more.” Clover shakes his head. “Unfortunately, Atlas’s seems to be better known for what it does poorly than for anything else.”

“Then why don’t you work to change it?”

“I am. Who do you think pushed to let Omegas teach at the academy in the first place?”

“You pushed for that?”

“Right out of the academy, I joined the military pack, as is fairly common here. I had all these crazy ideas that I was going to change things from the inside. So I started with this one idea and it took two years for it to get traction and another three for it to finally be adopted.” Clover shakes his head. “And by that time, I was exhausted by the process and the bureaucracy.”

“I can only imagine.”

“But I didn’t give up. It's just that so many of the higher ups were stuck in their old ways that they could not see the benefits. Someone actually said to me, ‘this boat turns slowly,’ like I should be used to waiting for change at a glacial pace.” He could still remember the Beta Colonel saying those words to him. In some ways he was grateful, because none of the Alphas would have ever said it but in others ways, he was furious that this was the way it was expected to work.

“Anyway, once the changes were made, students benefited greatly, as three Omega professors were hired the fall of that first year and more Omegas began attending the academy because there were professors like themselves.” Clover stares off at the window for a moment. “And it took a while but a number of them became very effective hunters, both in and out of the military pack. Which is why Ironwood is so determined to include more Omegas in the ranks, as he has seen the benefit of them individually and as mated pairs when working together on the field.”

“Wow. Well that explains a lot about why he made such a demand when we arrived.”

“But he never should have done that. It was so unprofessional. There were so many other things that he could have asked for and I think he is starting to see that. But the longer you and your pack are here, the more I suspect that he regrets making the demand.”

“I don’t think I would go that far.”

“But from his perspective, you arrived with two combat trained omegas, young as they were, and it seemed like an easy way to fill out the ranks. And then when you and I walked in and declared that you were a third, I think he felt like he was receiving a great boon. ...I still can’t believe that he went about it the way that he did.” 

“He’s the General of the military and the leader of the Atlas pack. And like a typical knothead, he can do whatever he wants. Not like there was anything you could have done to stop him.”

“True. But I did have words with him the next day. I was appalled that he would demand such a thing and then make me a part of it. It made me feel like a co-conspirator...as well as feeling a little betrayed that I was not permitted to choose for myself who I wanted to be mated with.”

“You really are a strange Alpha, boy scout.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Most alphas that I have met tend to be very aggressive or domineering towards me and other Omegas. Ozpin was special, but you. You are more respectful than some Betas that I have encountered.”

“I will take that as a compliment. That last thing I want to do is force you to do anything you don’t want to do, since I don’t like being told what to do in my personal life either.”

“I appreciate that but aren’t you disobeying your Alpha?”

“Technically. But as long as we stay cordial towards each other I don’t think that it will matter.”

“I hope you're right. And thank you for, well, everything. I can’t imagine having to be with any other typical Alpha who would have likely forced me to submit, or at least tried.”

“Your welcome but I doubt that you would have submitted to just anyone, at least not easily, considering your fighting ability is better than a majority of the pack here in Atlas.”

Qrow looks away. “I don’t know about all that.” This man, this Alpha was actually starting to get to him. He was actually starting to like him, at least as a person. Qrow just shook his head at the thought of it possibly being more. _Why the hell does he keep giving so much credit?_ There had to be an ulterior motive.

“Do you always deflect compliments?”

Qrow snaps his head back up, making a disgruntled face. “Hey, not this again.” Clover easily called him out on his inability to take compliments and multiple times in one week just irritated him.

“Sorry but with the exception of you admitting that you were a great teacher, I don’t hear you say much about yourself in a positive light.” 

Back at Signal, teaching was one of the things that he loved to do and it seemed to be one of the only things that his semblance had no control over. “Yeah well, you try living with bad luck and see how it turns out for you.” 

Clover puts his hands up. “No no. I wasn’t taking a shot. I can only imagine how hard it was to live and survive with your bad luck. But I was actually trying to help you see how amazing you are in spite of your semblance.”

This man was creeping in and around all of Qrow’s defenses and the last thing he wanted to do was admit it. _There has to be a reason that he is doing this?_ “You trying to butter me up?” 

“Not at all. Flattery is something I’m all too accustomed with, especially with good luck when everyone wants a piece for themselves. When I give praise, it is because I actually believe what I am saying, and I never expect anything back. I just hope that it helps others see themselves in a better light and maybe help to brighten their day.”

But Clover was asking him to consider being more accepting of his success with other things, despite some of the failures that Qrow had. But failing these kids, this young pack was not an option. Leaving them was not an option. Not after everything that he had lost before. 

Maybe it was time to hit Clover with some more praise and see how he handles it. “With a mentality like that, you would make a good teacher.”

“What makes you say that?”

And of course he was going to make him explain himself. “You're a little too damn honest for my taste but ah...students need that as they figure out if they want to actually become hunters or not.”

“Thanks. I will have to keep that in mind.”

* * *

Clover enters Ironwoods’ office, for the weekly debriefing. These are usually about the missions for the Ace Ops but these last few weeks, they have included details about the rookies. Ironwood is sitting behind his desk, looking at digital documents.

“Report.”

Clover begins. “The rookies have been doing well, both on the field and being integrated with the Ace Ops. each week, both on the field and during training. Some of them have been able to create team attacks with the ops, as well as each other. The ops have even gotten better at expressing themselves and communicating, as necessity dictated that they need to do more of this, especially with the rookies. They have taken to dining together fairly frequently as well.”

As Ironwood continues to look at the digital documents. “Good. What do you think of their abilities?”

“Collectively, they are a cohesive pack. They instinctively know how to assist each other, most of the time. They take cues from one another easily and have improved a great deal since arriving, including modifying some of the ace ops moves and making them their own.”

“Could the new pack or a smaller group be able to do patrols alone?”

“When it comes to taking on grimm absolutely. Either as a pack or subset, they could easily handle patrolling the wall or taking out small nests. As for knowing the landscape, they still need a little guidance. During the fight, they have learned to use the environment to help them, but after a fight, they sometimes get turned around as to which way they need to go.”

Ironwood finally looks up. “How come this has not been in your previous reports?”

“Since they were always assigned with at least one Ops member, it didn’t seem to warrant anything more than a side note in my official report.”

Ironwood presses a few buttons and swipes at the digital screen, then looks directly at Clover, resting his chin on his hands. “I see. How long would you recommend that they train to get a better understanding of the landscape?”

Clover thinks for a moment, as he looks towards his left, at a small chess set that hasn’t been touched in a while. “Hard to say but I am planning some training sessions here to help them get a lay of the land and having them be responsible for navigating the way to and from the assigned mission for the next week or two and see how that increases their awareness.”

“That’s good. But I think that we can push that a bit further.” Ironwood stands from his chair and moves to the side of his desk, and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Do the training here for a day. Then give them three days of missions, as you described with the ops. Then on day four, I want you to randomly drop them off somewhere on the tundra and let them find their way back.”

“Sir, isn’t that a bit extreme. I mean, they are not licensed and some of them are not even of age yet.”

Ironwood turns and looks out the window, with his hands behind his back. “True. But with the threats we are facing, this is no time to coddle hunters, regardless of age or license. They need to prove that they can handle it and that they are willing to follow orders.”

Something was off with Ironwood and Clover couldn’t put his finger on it, so instead he offered an alternative. “Sir. They have done everything that we have asked of them. With the training regiment that I have in mind, I could easily send them on a mission by themselves in a week's time, which would have the same effect. Plus the added benefit of having to return after exerting themselves. Would that be sufficient?”

“Hmm...Yes that would suffice. I will leave it to you to get them scheduled to work as an independent pack in a week's time. After that, we will discuss further missions in smaller groups.” He turns just slightly to his left, briefly staring at the wall as he sniffs the air and then glances at Clover over his shoulder, and then goes back to staring out the window.

Clover had expected for Ironwood to dismiss him right after his last statement but when he doesn’t right away, he is forced to ask. “Is there anything else, sir?”

“How is your pairing with Qrow going?

“It is going well. Thank you sir.” Again, there is nothing else from Ironwood, so he turns to leave. “Permission to leave?”

“I was concerned about the pairing, since I know that you have a more....romantic approach about mating and choosing your partner.”

“I think I shared my frustration regarding this with you earlier, sir.”

He ignores Clover’s comment. “Tell me more about what is going on with you two.”

He takes a deep breath. “Well we don’t exactly know each other well and he is a bit standoffish since you forced him and me into this pairing.” He wants to growl at this but restrains himself. “And largely due to that fact, I have no interest in forcing or making him submit to me. I feel it much more beneficial to take our time to get to know each other and earn his trust and the trust of the rest of the rookies, so it doesn’t feel like we are stealing him from their pack.”

“I appreciate your due diligence in this matter. Atlas is able to offer them protection and they are beginning to feel safe and develop a sense of belonging. All of that will definitely make your inevitable bonding easier and stronger in the end.” He pauses for a moment “However, this needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

Clover is caught off guard and despite that, he maintains his composure. “Sir, what are you suggesting?”

Ironwood turns around while standing next to the window. “Either bond with him within the next month or you won’t like what happens next.” Then he walks back towards his desk.

Clover’s jaw almost drops at the suggestion. Instead he focuses on the obvious problem with the ultimatum. “Sir, there is no guarantee that will happen during that time.” He thinks for a moment, as he stares incredulously at the lead Alpha, who leans over his desk, staring right back at him. 

Getting to know Qrow and working with him was…slow, to say the least. And Qrow seemed to appreciate his freedom that he was given since Clover was not the typical ‘knothead’ as Qrow liked to call them. Their relationship was friendly, which Clover very much appreciated and that was not suddenly going to turn into an intimate relationship in a month's time. As much as Clover liked Qrow and he was growing on him. He could even admit to himself that he was physically attracted to Qrow, but that was not enough for Clover to suddenly escalate their relationship. 

As Ironwood continued to stare at him, Clover started to understand what he was implying. “Unless....are you suggesting…”

“Inducing his Heat? Yes I am.”

Clover is appalled, but he can’t decide if it is because of the context of the conversation or that it is Ironwood discussing it with him. The idea of pushing for a permanent bonding so soon. “But sir, I… I really don’t think that is necessary,” Clover states as he shakes his head.

Ironwood bangs his fist on his desk. “But it is!” He sits down in his chair and places his fingers together in front of him, almost prayer like. “I have serious concerns that the new pack won’t stay. And with the election coming up and the help that the new pack has provided in Mantle, it would be bad if they left unexpectedly.” He sighs and puts his hands down in front of him. “Beside, the new pack is doing well here and they could make this their home. One way to help solidify this is to connect them to us. And since Qrow is a parental figure to them, I suspect that the kids won’t leave him behind, despite being young adults.” 

Clover is dumbfounded and angry, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He is nearly beyond his ability to restrain himself from growling at the Alpha. Ironwood stands up again and walks to the window to stare outside, with his hands behind his back.

Calmly, Ironwood continues. “We must do what is best for Atlas and this helps them and us. Tell Qrow that is in both of our interests and that the Atlas pack will protect them as our own after your bonding.” He pauses for a moment. “But if he is still resistant, then tell him that I will imprison him or his pack or send them on extremely dangerous missions. Tell him whatever you want, but get him to cooperate.” He turns, takes a step away from the window and looks directly at Clover. “I realize that I can’t order you to do this, as it pertains to a personal matter technically. So instead…” He turns back around to look out the window. “...if you can’t bond with him in a month’s time, regardless of how, I will pair him with someone who can.”

Shocked and furious as hell, he responds through gritted teeth. “I...I understand.” He turns to leave before anything else can be said.

“Dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I made Ironwood sound like a really bad guy in this, at least for a bit. I would love to redeem him, but it won’t likely happen during my initial plot line.
> 
> In my ABO universe, sex can be casually had by all without bonding. But temporary bonded pairs occur when bites happen during sex, that only last for a few months, at the longest or until the next heat or rut of the pair in question occurs, whichever comes first. However, a permanent bond occurs during heats or ruts, as one usually triggers the other, when biting at scent gland during sex. Which makes them much more important and intimate to those involved.


	5. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And how would Ironwood know? Was he going to ask to watch? He shuddered the thought, but it brought up an interesting question. “How is he going to check that we are bonded?”
> 
> Clover whipped his head around and stared at Qrow. “Wait. That’s it!” He rushes over to Qrow and grabs his shoulders, clearly excited about what was just said. Qrow is actually a little worried that Clover might pick him up. “What’s the one thing that everyone notices about bonded pairs?”
> 
> And then they speak at the same time. “The bite mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Almost Halloween!!!!
> 
> I am slowly building up different parts of this story as I jump around to different plot points and chapters and I just start writing as the story unfolds in my brain. Downside is that it is not happening in order. Upside, some later chapters should be easier to clean up and post. I had hoped to include a bit more of the side plot in this one but it just didn't fit, so here we are, with nearly 4500 words.
> 
> Enjoy!

Clover took a few days to slowly calm down after his conversation with Ironwood. He kept reliving the conversation repeatedly in his mind and every time he had to curtail his Alpha instincts to punch a wall. He did spend quite a bit of time in the training rooms, especially right after he left the Ironwood’s office, finding an outlet for his frustration. 

He is so frustrated that he has been avoiding seeing anyone in his free time, as it has taken all of his effort during the missions to stay calm and focus on the job. This included Qrow, who he hoped wouldn’t notice that something was wrong. As luck would have it, no one said a thing, Qrow included. But Clover did wonder if Qrow noticed and was keeping to himself. 

Eventually he came to recognize that he is going to have to tell Qrow what was going on, but he just didn’t know how to start the conversation.  _ Hey we need to mate because Ironwood said so. _ OR  _ Hey if we don’t mate Ironwood is going to put you or the kids in danger _ . Those were the mild version and there was no way that he was going to go into more detail regarding the rest of that conversation. 

Clover’s biggest fear was that Qrow would panic and then up and leave with the kids in the middle of the night. He really didn’t want to see that happen. The kids needed a place to settle down and get their bearings verses being on the move all of the time. He was slowly starting to like Qrow, enjoying their time together, forced as it was, but he also enjoyed working and being around the kids and all of their antics.

While he is punching out his frustration in one of the training rooms one evening, as he continues to think about how to tell Qrow, that when someone comes in he doesn’t hear the door open and shut. He is so focused on getting out his anger that he is even mumbling to himself, still infuriated about the situation.

“So what’s got you all riled up, boy scout?” Clover whips his head around, so fast that he almost loses his balance.

“Qrow!?! What are you doing here?” He couldn’t quite wipe the worried look off his face.

“Checking on you and trying to find out what has been up with you lately.” Qrow looked very serious with his arms crossed in front of him, wearing an Atlas t-shirt and sweatpants. Clover just stared at him for a moment, struck by how hot and comfortable he looked at the same time.

Qrow titled his head. “Clover?”

He blinked and then looked at Qrow properly. “Nothing. Just decided that I needed to spend a little more time training.” He then turns back to the training room, pulls out his scroll and resets the training simulation. “All of the kids are really keeping me on my toes and I want to be ready for anything that they could throw at me.”

“For the past three days you have been trying to hide how angry you are about something. Don’t deny it. I can smell it all over you, especially here. The others didn’t notice but you can’t hide it from me.” 

Clover stops in his tracks as Qrow says this. How in the hell did he not think of that. He just shakes his head. Well, now was probably not the best time to tell him but better to get this over and done with. He makes a quick wish and flicks his pendant before turning around and walking towards Qrow.

“All right. I won’t deny it. I am angry, but it is so much more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

He looks directly at Qrow. “I am FURIOUS!” Qrow’s eyes go wide and Clover bows his head, hand on his face covering his eyes. “At Ironwood.”

“What did that knothead do this time?”

Clover chuckled slightly at the derogatory term, despite having heard it before. “I think you had better sit down.”

They head for the observation room and find a bench to sit. Then Clover continues.

“Ironwood asked how our pairing was going and I told him that we were cordial with one another. And he wasn’t happy with that. He wanted to know if we had gone farther.”

Qrow is clearly getting just as angry as Clover was. “Let me guess. He wants us to mate to make a permanent bond. But I assume there is more if you're this upset about it.”

“There is. And there is no easy way to say this, so I am just going to say it.” He took a deep breath. “He is worried that you and your pack are going to leave, so he suggested that I remind you that this is good for everyone, which is why you should be willing to mate with me.” He sighs and continues. “But he is not opposed to threatening you to get you to capitulate.”

“Such as?” Qrow asks through gritted teeth that almost sounds like part growl.

“By imprisoning you, the kids, or assigning them to extremely dangerous missions.”

“Shit!” Qrow gets up and starts pacing. Clover just watches him for a few moments. Qrow then stops and looks at him. “That isn’t everything, is it?”

“No.” Clover takes another deep breath. “He wants this to happen within the month, suggesting that I get meds to induce your heat.”

“Damn It!” Qrow just taps his foot rapidly. “He thought of everything.” Qrow then plops back down on the bench next to Clover.

Clover looks at the floor for a moment and he can’t believe that he is telling him this part. “He even included a threat for me.”

“Why in the hell would he do that?”

He looks back at Qrow. “It has not been my preference to use my dynamic abilities on anyone unless absolutely necessary, which is one reason why I am still unmatted.”

“So what did he threaten you with?”

“Partnering you with someone else.”

Qrow’s jaw dropped and he just stared at Clover, sitting there with his arms crossed. Clover was actually a little happy at Qrows response. Maybe he wasn’t wrong about something small starting to grow between them. He decides to take a chance. He stands up and with a single finger, lifts Qrow’s dropped jaw, hearing Qrow teeth click together. Then he pulls his hand back and places it on his far shoulder.

“So now you know why I have been furious for the past few days.” Clover then walks out of the observation room and heads toward the door. He turns back to see Qrow pacing again. Clover grabs his scroll, clicks a few buttons and resets the simulation for him. Then he hollers back toward Qrow. “In case you need to blow off some steam.” Then he leaves, headed for the showers. But before he gets far, he can hear Harbinger clashing with metal. He wasn’t alone in his anger any more.

* * *

The next day, neither of them address the conversation from the previous night, despite seeing each other in their shared room that morning and being assigned to work together. just the two of them.

After Qrow finally collects himself, he approaches the conversation a bit hesitantly in their quarters that evening.

“So what are going to do about his ultimatum?” Qrow needed to figure out if Clover had a plan or if Qrow needed to go get the kids and run from this place. He really didn’t want to but this was just too much. If Ironwood had just kept out of it, he would have done it later on, feeling obligated to have sex with him because of how considerate Clover had been. He would never admit it outloud but Clover was growing on him, and he enjoyed the little bit of flirting and banter that they shared. But Qrow had no intention of mating with anyone. He was still unmatted for a reason and he planned to keep it that way. 

“I don’t know. I haven’t been in the right state of mind to even try to find an alternative.”

“You don’t want to force this on me?” Qrow says this with only a hint of surprise. Qrow knew that this was different than when they had first arrived, because he would have easily given himself to anyone if it meant that the kids were safe and cared for. Now that Qrow had been treated well and given a great deal of freedom, he was not going to sell out considering Clover didn’t seem to want to engage in the activity all due to some overly overt romantic notions. To each their own he supposed.

Clover looks directly at Qrow, with such compassion. “Absolutely not. That would mean that I was forcing myself into this as well and that is not how I want to be bonded to anyone. I would prefer that sort of thing be special considering it is permanent and I would assume memorable.”

Qrow’s eyes grew big, as he listened to him. How in the world did he find the most compassionate Alpha that ever existed? “You’re a true romantic. Now I understand why you’re unmated.”

“Well, that’s part of it. The rest can be a story for another time. I think we have bigger issues to worry about at the moment.”

They were both quiet for a few moments. Then Clover speaks. “This is ridiculous. Neither of us should have to be put in this position. Maybe some Alpha’s don’t mind being raffled off to the next Omega recruit but this is so unfair!”

Qrow remembered the threat made to Clover about being assigned to someone else. “Are you saying that you don’t want me as your partner?” He is a little surprised that he had to ask, but it was not clear which part Clover was upset about.

“No. No. That’s not it.” He takes a deep breath. “I rather enjoy working with you and all of the kids you brought with you. They have brought an energy with them that I can’t describe that my team and others in Atlas are benefitting from.” He turns to look out the small window in their room. “It’s this crazy situation where you had to agree to be partnered with someone in the first place, like you need protecting or defending, which you definitely don’t. All he  _ sees _ are our dynamics and the benefits to the pack.”

Qrow was relieved to know that Clover didn’t want to get rid of him. That was one less thing to worry about. But now he had to contend with this extreme request of him and Clover, neither of them wanted to participate in. “At least he didn’t just  _ see _ us for our semblances.”

“Qrow, I’m trying to be serious.”

“So am I. If it isn’t dynamics it's something else. Rarely do leaders of large groups see the individual for who they are. It’s their job to see the big picture.”

Clover looked at him shocked. “Are you saying that you agree with him?! You can’t be serious!”

“No! I don’t agree with him! But I understand it. And this is  _ way _ out of line. He could have asked for any number of other things when we first got here but he saw an opportunity and took it. Can’t say I haven’t done the same in the past.”

Clover sighs and hangs his head. “You’re right. I too have taken advantage of many opportunities that were probably detrimental to others.” Then he looks back at Qrow. “I just never considered what it was like to be on the other side of that decision.” He pauses for a moment, walking towards the window. “So what are we going to do about this situation?” He stares out the window, and Qrow wonders if he is hoping for a solution to just come to him like plucking it out of the sky.

Qrow then considers their options. Stop taking their suppressants and trigger either his heat or Clovers rut and become bonded. OR what? And how would Ironwood know? Was he going to ask to watch? He shuddered the thought, but it brought up an interesting question. “How is he going to check that we are bonded?”

Clover whipped his head around and stared at Qrow. “Wait. That’s it!” He rushes over to Qrow and grabs his shoulders, clearly excited about what was just said. Qrow is actually a little worried that Clover might pick him up. “What’s the one thing that everyone notices about bonded pairs?”

And then they speak at the same time. “The bite mark.”

Qrow can’t believe that this sap is excited at the prospect of a work around. Where did this guy come from? Was there really such a man that didn’t like sex, even if it was with someone that may not have liked? Did the Gods create him themselves? He decides that they need to think this through a bit more. “So what would this alternative look like?”

“If I use Elm and Vine as an example, I always assumed that they were together because you smell them on each other. And the bite mark that is always visible.“

“Well, I think we may need to work on the scenting part, because currently it is very subtle and it needs to be more obvious.” He looks away for a moment and then looks back at Clover. “The bite mark is going to be a bit tricky.”

“Why?”

“You really don’t understand mated pairs do you?”

“Well I don’t go around asking about them about how their mated pairings turned out.”

“As well you shouldn’t, but when partners choose to become mated for life, the bite that occurs during and Omega's heat or Alpha’s rut, is special because it’s permanent.”

“Wait. Really?”

“Boy scout, I don’t joke when talking about mating.”

Clover looks down and groans. “Is there any way to work around it that we could use?”

“It’s possible but it will be tricky. But I have a bigger concern. How do we get to the point where we would have to fake a mated pair bite?”

“I don’t follow.”

Qrow just stares at this fool of a man. He wasn’t even sure he was Alpha at this point. He takes a deep breath to explain and realizes that he can smell how excited Clover is and there is no doubt he is an Alpha, just the strangest one he has ever met. “We shouldn’t just jump into this like it wasn’t planned. You know as well as I do, that mated pairs are usually discussed and agreed upon before it occurs, with rare exceptions. Which is also why there are meds to lower the severity of heats and ruts, as well as prevent them all together. This will look better and be more believable if we work up to it.”

“Oh, right. So make it look like this is a planned intimate relationship.”

“Yes. First we would need to be seen more together in the dinning hall and in the training rooms. Then we would definitely need to scent each other so it would seem like we were getting closer.”

“I think that we can easily do all of that. So we have about three weeks left before his timeline is up, how about we start  _ dating _ and go out for a few meals. Then we fake our first intimate night at the end of next week and I will cook. They all know how much of a romantic I am and ah...when I have dated others...this uh...this is something I was sorta known for.” Clover is a bit red in the face when he finally finishes his last sentence.

Qrow almost laughs. “Well look at you. You even know your own tells.” He thinks about it and looks at his scroll regarding the dates on the calendar. “That sounds like a plan. We will likely need to continue the ‘dating’ and ‘sex’ evenings for the following week. Then we should probably plan for the fake heat in the beginning or middle of the last week.” Qrow looks up and Clover nods. Then Qrow frowns at his next thought.

Clover clearly noticed. “What is it?”

“Is there any way we can do that somewhere else? I really don’t want to have to  _ fake it _ during that week for the Ops. Besides that just seems rude.”

“Gods yes! Definitely not here! We have special facilities for such events for both the privacy of those involved and consideration of those who would be distrubed by it. I have heard that they are especially nice.”

“Good. Don’t do it now, but sometime after our fake date where you cook for me, and our first night  _ together _ , when you report to Ironwood, ask for the room or whatever you might need to do to prep for it. That should help alleviate any concerns that he would have about his ‘request.’”

“That would help. I just hope it doesn’t pry too much. I might lose my control and actually punch him this time.”

“I know I can’t be there but please get video of it if you do.”

* * *

Everything goes according to plan. They start by scenting each other at night and then progress to doing in the morning too. Qrow can’t bring himself to admit that he likes it but Clover’s scent is very appealing, so at least it isn’t unpleasant to have it on him all of the time. And enjoys that his own scent lingers a bit on Clover. Gives him a new perspective on why Tai and Summer were always so happy about it.

The next night, they work together, checking the calendar and assignment schedule, making detailed plans for everything for the next three weeks. They put the plan on paper and stash it in their special books, so that no one can track it on their scrolls. They spend more time together in the dining hall, train together and go on ‘dates’ by going to some fun places to eat in Atlas and Mantle. Qrow can actually admit to Clover that this is the most fun he has had in a while, going out for food and trying new things. He hasn’t been this well fed in a long time.

Qrow checks their plan with their work schedule one last time and shares with Clover that Thursday evening would work best for the ‘intimate’ night. Clover just laughs and Qrow wonders why he seems so excited for something that is just a rouse. 

* * *

On the evening of their planned ‘sex’ encounter, Clover takes afternoon of his day off and prepares dinner. He also plans to have some leftovers to leave for the Ops, as he knows that the ops are on separate missions for the day with the kids. They will be gone until dinner and that they will dine in the café with everyone else and who knows how much they will get to actually eat, so just in case they were still hungry there was plenty left overs that they can appreciate. He just doesn’t get to cook very often being in charge of the Ops. He also knows that they will recognize how serious this is for him, as he goes to the trouble of making a dessert, since he really wants to make it all fit with his romantic flair.

They enjoy a nice dinner in the common room uninterrupted. Clover takes the desert to their room, along with plates and forks for later. They both move to Clover’s room and lounge around on their beds and play games, read books, and spend time on their scrolls. Clover even works on some old reports, nothing that would catch anyone’s attention, as he just never got around to it. Clover suggests cards at some point, after they had already done so in the back of a transport. Qrow says sure but after a few rounds of losing, Clover suggests that they do something else. 

They eat their dessert. Then they talk about Qrow’s teaching at Signal before the fall. They talk about Clover’s experiences as he rose up the ranks of the Atlas military pack. As well as a more detailed discussion about Qrow’s family. They talk about Clover’s early life fishing in Argus.

Eventually Clover looks at the clock and realizes it is nearly midnight. At this point they will need their sleep. When he looks back at Qrow, he is standing up and moving over toward Clover. “Time to get this over with huh?”

Clover stands up and remembers that Qrow suggests that they show a general bite mark that will heal but show that they are ‘on their way’ to being more serious. “Yeah.” So Qrow stands right in front of Clover, pulls back his collar and turns his head, providing easy access for Clover to leave a mark. Despite their growing friendship, it is clear that Qrow has no intention of letting this go further than it has to and Clover is fine with that, recognizing that to keep up appearances, you do what is needed. 

However, what Clover didn’t expect is how turned on he would become by this presentation that Qrow has made of himself. Clover recognizes it as a mild infatuation and easily swats it away. So he steps a little closer to Qrow and admires his scent glands, smaller and less intense than his own, but still there all the same. 

Qrow gets impatient. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get this over with.” 

Clover leans down and bites hard, knowing that he needs to leave a mark. Qrow howls at the feeling, clearly intentional but it catches Clover off guard, that he almost jumps. As he is still biting him, he realizes that this was what this whole thing was about, keeping up appearances. The point of the ops hearing Qrow just helps confirm their story, as the mark will be able to be seen despite his uniform, especially since Qrow doesn’t button the top few buttons of his shirt, even if it heals in a day, since this is just a precursor to their ‘bonding.’ The rest of the ops will clearly confirm that they missed dinner in the mess, for which they have been previously attending together every day, and smelled Clover’s dessert and heard Qrow howl. What an amazing plan this was. 

Except now both of them were highly aware of something that neither had planned for. For just a brief flash of a second, they can feel what the other feels. Qrow brushes it off as not having been with anyone in so long. But Clover considers where he has heard of this happening to others and it scares him a bit. He pushes it to the back of his mind to worry about at another time. 

Clover stops biting him and then licks the bite mark, as he felt sorry that he had to hurt him just to keep up appearances. Qrow was caught off guard by the action and turned his head back toward Clover and got a whiff of Clover’s scent. Despite the supplements, there was little that could be done when they were this close. As Clover pulled back and looked directly into Qrow’s eyes. Qrow leans forward and kisses Clover, gently and without thinking.

Clover doesn’t stop or pull away because it feels right and even kisses back without thinking. Despite the suppressants, Clover was starting to have feelings for Qrow that were beyond Alpha Omega hormones. Especially while they were working together and talking about their semblances and their lives as pups and experiences in battle. Even this evening, it was just…fun having someone to talk to that wasn’t all Atlas, all the time. 

Qrow pulls away and takes a step back. He has no interest in becoming attached, but maybe he misjudged Clover. But now was not the time to reconsider what he wanted, despite the fact that Clover briefly kissed him back. This was a means to an end.

“Sorry about that. My Omega brain kicked in when I caught a strong whiff of your scent.”

“It’s okay. My Alpha brain did the same, especially after you presented yourself and howled.”

“Sorry about that. Probably should have warned you.”

They both stare at the floor, avoiding looking directly at each other. They stand there for a minute, both taking glances up at the other, not sure what to do, not sure what they mean to each other.

Clover reminds himself that he wants to keep his word that he will not force himself on Qrow, hoping that maybe their relationship could grow to at least an appreciation before the potential inevitable pairing. At least then it would be more than just the hormones talking and that would make it all worth the extra effort. 

Qrow was so frustrated for letting himself consider this possible relationship. He knew that their pairing was inevitable but he was not about to let this opportunity to postpone it as long as possible pass him by. No Alpha was nearly as considerate as Clover and if things with Salem came to Atlas, and the young pack was kicked out, Qrow would need to leave and being unattached to Clover would make it easier to leave with them. If he was actually mated, he would have a much harder time leaving, as Clover would be able to track him and if he was catching multiple times, he would likely wind up with a litter on the way. He could only hope that his older age and semblance would intervene making that unlikely if not impossible.

This was the best option and he knew it. But then why was he letting Clover get to him? He just shook his head and blamed it on the Omega part of his brain. Even suppressants couldn’t eliminate all of the instincts and hormones. 

After a few minutes of internal thoughts, they both turned away. Clover spoke first. “Thanks for helping me to uh...keep up appearances. I know that this isn’t what you expected when you came here.”

“I should be thanking you, considering you’re the Alpha and all.” He turns away from Clover and walks toward his bed. Then he adds “You could have forced me into this the very first night or any night since then and you haven’t. I still don’t know how you got your hands on the suppressants for both of us.” Qrow turned to look at him from across the room.

Clover just put his hands on his hips and shrugged but in a smug way. “You let me worry about that.” At that they both just crawled into bed without saying goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am hoping to spend a little more time with this story even while finishing some writing prompts for Qrowtober and starting a new one for Clovember. Pushing myself to write every day has definitely been a challenge and there has been some lost sleep to keep up with it but it feels....refreshing to have one thing that is consistent in my life every day.
> 
> Thanks again to my excellent beta BrianneABanana. You can find all of her excellent works here - https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrianneABanana
> 
> Until next time...  
> 🍀

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this. I was inspired by GoringWriting's story, way back in March and when they didn't continue it, I asked if I could. I believe that I have at least 10 chapters planned for this and most of 4 more written. But here is the crazy thing....I don't remember writing most of it. So this was even a treat for me to read and then add to, update and now post.
> 
> The original story is not rated but I plan to make this at least mature and possibly explicit. Depends on how that part of the story writes itself. I hope that I do the ABO concept justice.
> 
> Thanks to BrianneABanana for beta reading this for me.


End file.
